End of the World

Rules

Use standard Magic: the Gathering Rules.

Deck Construction

For this variant you must build a deck from only cards in Fallen Empires and the most current base set and they all must be the same color. The deck for two should contain one hundred to one hundred thirty cards. If you're going to play with three or four people (more than four is very complicated), add about forty cards per person.

As you build your deck, classify cards as civilized, feral, and general. This is a matter of common sense: any card that produces any feral creature, like a Thallid or Thrull, should be earmarked for the feral player. (There are some exceptions to this rule. An Elvish player may control Thallids if he casts Elvish Farmer.) It helps to write down which cards belong to whom. Whatever you do, keep feral and civilized cards in equal proportion.

Blue and green decks are the easiest to build, since the battle lines are fairly well drawn: Merfolk vs. Homarid, Elf vs. Thallid. Black is a little trickier. Any black summoning spell that doesn't mention Thrull anywhere should be considered civilized. Other black spells that don't directly deal with Thrulls should be considered general.

Red's Goblins have an overwhelming edge. The only direct damage spell that should be put in their grubby little hands is Goblin Grenade. All others give to the Dwarves. That should help to even things out some. Playing with white is incredibly cutthroat: every spell is general. It becomes a race to see who can cast the Hand of Justice first.

Any continuous artifact that causes damage or awards life should be left out on general principle, but cards like Rod of Ruin are acceptable: it has a fairly high activation cost for the amount of damage it does.

Setup

When you're ready to play, take two basic lands of they type found in the deck and place them between you and your opponent. Randomly decide which side each player is on. For three or more players, have two people each flip a coin. If they turn up the same way, the two people that flipped the coins are a team. If the coins split, a third player should flip and take the side of the matching coin toss. Each player begins with twenty life points. Take your seats, chose who goes first, and begin.

The Rules

When the game starts, there are two basic lands already in play. The player whose turn it is may use these communal lands. These lands may never be destroyed, Enchanted, or otherwise messed with. They're even immune to Armageddon. The communal lands untap on every player's untap phase.

The player who goes first draws seven cards from the communal deck for his opening draw and an eighth for his first turn. All of these cards go face up in the middle, between the players. This is the communal hand. The rest of the turn proceeds normally except for one thing: the player may not cast his opponent's spells.

If you're a civilized player and the communal hand is chock full of feral cards, you're flat out of luck. You can't use any of those spells, although you can attack and use your permanents' abilities. If the hand is full of general cards, then either type of player may use them. A player may even cast an instant during someone else's turn, although before doing so he must ask permission from the player currently taking a turn. If the person does not let the person cast the instant then the current player must cast it during his turn or the other player may cast it for free at the end of the turn.

When your turn is done, it passes to the player to your left. If the hand is at seven cards, each player should draw one card during the draw phase. If the hand is below seven, the players should draw the appropriate number of cards to keep the hand at seven. When a player places a land for that turn, he may choose to put in the communal pool rather than in front of himself. This has the advantages in a multiplayer game.

Attacks may only be launched at one opponent, and you may only attack one player a turn - no splitting attacks between opponents.

Strategy

Beware the creative discard style of play. If your opponent has a full hand of seven, he might begin his turn, draw his card, do nothing, end his turn, and discard a card from the communal deck that you were planning to cast the very next turn. It's a dirty trick, but it's legal.

Play the general spells very carefully. It may not be a good idea to wait to cast that Stream of Life or Fireball on the table - your opponent might get to it first. On the other hand, it's a very good idea to field as many creatures as you can. If you can get a creature lock early, you've got the game half won. This is the feral player's strength.

Ending the Game

The game ends when all the players on one side are defeated. If the civilized forces win, they've forestalled their doom until another day. If the feral side wins, well... it was inevitable, wasn't it?

Mulligan Rules

No player may take a mulligan for this variant.

History

Wil Chase created this variant.